He is probably our most experienced representative in the Strasbourg and Brussels offices. This year he is leaving after three terms and ten years as vice-president of the European Parliament, while he has been repeatedly evaluated as one of the most influential MEPs. He has a distinct political position in the field of the Left, but he sometimes cooperated with MEPs of other parties to promote Greek positions on critical issues. A leading member of SYRIZA for a number of years, he recently joined the “New Left” party.

I met Dimitris Papadimoulis in Strasbourg, at the last session of the European Parliament before the June elections. His account is mixed, “bittersweet” as he says: “50 years ago I joined the Left as a left Europeanist. I argued then that Greece should enter the EEC, an opinion that was in the minority in the field of the Left. And of PASOK. But the expectations were not justified. We entered with the expectation and promise that we would converge to the level of the European countries that were more advanced than us. After 43 years, we have not passed a single country in terms of living standards and social achievements. And many countries have passed us by, which entered long after Greece. According to the latest data from Eurostat, in terms of purchasing power, we are 26th out of 27, only passing Bulgaria.”

Would it be better off outside the EU?

But Europe itself is not getting “good marks”, the outgoing vice-president of the European Parliament tells Deutsche Welle. “It is far from a strong political Union with a sufficient budget to serve the objectives, with a serious geopolitical role, able to invest in the future, in the digital transition or in artificial intelligence.”

Criticism of the EU is loud and often justified, as many expectations for the “political Europe” or the “social Europe” we would like have been disappointed. But let’s think back to 1980. Were we better off then, when the country was isolated, when young people couldn’t look for opportunities outside the borders or even collect Erasmus experience, when inflation was galloping at 25 % and prosperity was the affair of the few?

“There is no doubt that a Greece outside the EU would be a poorer Greece, with greater inequalities, even closer to our Balkan neighborhood – which is in a worse fate than us – and even more dependent on the Americans” says Dimitris Papadimoulis. “So I’m not saying we entered badly. I am saying that we did not take advantage, mainly due to the responsibility of the governments of Greece, of the opportunities and challenges created by coexistence in a competitive arena. And I also underline that despite the positives you noted – ‘Erasmus’, the Common Market, the abolition of visas, the freedom of movement of persons, services, capital – the EU under the responsibility of the rich and powerful remains primarily a Common Market. With a bit of Political Union”.

European Parliament

“Fire” in Council and Commission

Dimitris Papadimoulis belongs to the leaders of the Left who believe that the battle for a better Europe must take place within Europe, not outside of it. After all, he was the first left-wing politician to be admitted to the Executive Committee of the Spinelli Group, the group of European Federalists, which includes former prime ministers such as Jose Tapatero, Guy Verhofstadt, and Alexis Tsipras.

For the past parliamentary term, he mainly points out two positive things: “The first is the creation of the Recovery Fund: common European borrowing with a key for the allocation of funds that gave the most money – mainly grants and less loans – to the poorest countries. And the second is that after the initial coldness and competition, some steps were taken in European cooperation to deal with the pandemic. I am positive about the joint supply of vaccines. On the downside of this success: the hidden SMS, where the Parliament tried to find out what happened, but we fell into the Commission’s block.”

In the complex network of competences of the current EU, the mission of the European Parliament is to control the executive power. That is, the Commission. At the same time, however, he is called upon to control the co-legislator of European law with whom he otherwise cooperates. That is, the Council, the national governments. The criticism of Dimitris Papadimoulis is mainly aimed at them.

“A while ago we were discussing what will happen with the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union in the Plenary and I also made my last speech in Parliament. And the Council was absent in this very serious discussion” characteristically says the Greek vice-president. “As soon as it was announced by the Bureau that we will discuss this, they got up and left…”

“Best representation” in Brussels

In Strasbourg we are used to hearing criticism of the actions or omissions of the Council. But what about the Parliament itself? Are the best participating in it? Because, at least as far as the Greek representation is concerned, it has not been the best possible in the last five years. “I would like us to distinguish ourselves by effectiveness and not by the presence of Greek MEPs in criminal cases” says Dimitris Papadimoulis, to add: “I would like in the next term to have better representation from the Greek side”.

The truth is that the political parties are attempting a renewal of the political staff in Brussels. But by what criteria? “Looking at the parties’ European ballots, I don’t have high hopes,” emphasizes the vice-president of the European Parliament. “And I would now like to address the Greek citizens who have the cross of preference in their hands. And let me tell them the following simple Mr. Papadimitriou: Another European Parliament and another Eurovision! In the European Parliament, they must vote the people capable of representing Greece and the interests of its citizens. Which means to work, to know the issues, to speak foreign languages, to be determined to work, to have prestige and arguments to be able to build alliances. Not a celebrity.”

“No, I didn’t move…”

Despite Deutsche Welle’s regular coverage of the European Parliament, it had been some time since we had the chance to speak with Dimitris Papadimoulis. “I see that you have moved…” was the first comment I made on the occasion of what was heard about his joining the “New Left”. The answer is interesting: “I didn’t move even a millimeter. I remain on the modern Left that wants Greece within Europe, but an advanced country, where the citizens prosper, with a strong social state, with the rule of law, with an independent Justice, with environmental protection, far from client state and corruption. If something has moved, it is the party of Mr. Kasselakis, from what we knew as the modern Left, but also from terms of elementary seriousness.”